Dementors
= = :"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soul-less and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life." :—Remus Lupin to Harry Potter : :A Dementor is a Dark creature, considered one of the foulest that inhabit the world. Dementors feed off human happiness, and thus cause depression and despair to any who are in close proximity to them. They are also capable of consuming a person's soul, leaving their victims in a permanent vegetative state, and thus are often referred to as soul-sucking fiends.1 The Ministry of Magic employed Dementors as the guardians of Azkaban until mid-1996, when Lord Voldemort was sighted in the Ministry of Magic and their defection to his side was realised. The Dementors supposedly lead the Death Eaters as well as Voldemort into the Ministry of Magic2. After the end of the Second Wizarding War in 1998, the Ministry was reformed, and Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt ensured that they were not used by the government again3. :Dementors hold no loyalty except to whomever will provide them with the most souls to consume. They cannot be destroyed, though their numbers can be limited if the conditions in which they multiply are reduced3. : Appearance Dementors have a humanoid shape, approximately three metres in height and most are covered in dark, hooded cloaks. The creatures have grey and decayed bodies and their faces have nothing but a large holewhere the mouth should be, which is used for sucking the soul out of the victim in a process called the Dementor's Kiss, which is generally considered worse than death. Unlike other creatures, who move through some means of physical support, Dementors can fly freely, without support. Dementors are at least somewhat sentient, and intelligent enough to be greedy: they obeyed the Ministry of Magic for years because, in guarding Azkaban, they were provided with sustenance. They are also able to understand and follow at least simple instructions, which allowed a Dementor to act as a bodyguard to Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge in 1995, and for them to escort prisoners in and out of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission courtroom in 1997. They were also able to communicate what they had heard Sirius Black saying in his sleep in 1993 to the Ministry, possibly meaning that they can relay thoughts of their own, or can write, or use sign language of some sort. The precise extent to which wizards and Dementors can communicate with each other is unclear. It is possible that Dementors react to emotion and/or thought rather than to actual spoken words themselves, as they are described as not having eyes.Dementors are said to grow like fungi in the darkest, dankest places, creating a dense, chilly fog. They are apparently invincible, as it is impossible to destroy a Dementor, but their numbers can be limited by eradicating the conditions that give rise to them, implying that they die off eventually.. Abilities Being blind, Dementors sense and feed on the positive emotions of human beings to survive, forcing them to relive their worst memories. The very presence of a Dementor makes the victim's surrounding atmosphere grow cold and dark, with increasing effects as the number of Dementors rise. Those kept in the company of a Dementor for too long become depressed, and are often driven insane, which is themain source of Azkaban's well-deserved horrible reputation. Although Muggles cannot see Dementors, they are affected in a way similar to wizards and witches, becoming depressed when in their vicinity. While at least one Squib, Arabella Figg, has claimed to see a Dementor, the truth is that Squibs cannot see them, but have enough magical knowledge to identify their effects. Dementor's Kiss "There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just -- exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever...lost." —Remus Lupin on the Dementor's Kisssrc '' In addition to feeding on positive emotions, Dementors can perform what is known as the Dementor's Kiss, in which a Dementor latches its mouth onto a victim's and sucks out the person's soul. The victim is left as an empty shell, incapable of thought and with no possibility of recovery. It is believed existing after a Dementor's Kiss is worse than death: as a person's soul is their self, to be "kissed" by a Dementor is to cease to exist, and yet also remain. The Ministry of Magic occasionally allows this as a punishment. Muggles who have had their souls sucked out in a Dementor's attack would mistakenly be thought to suffer from the medical condition known as Persistent Vegetative State by Muggle doctors, since after the 'kiss' the victim would no longer experience any brain activity, despite no damage done to the brain itself. This makes Dementors even more terrifying, since they will attack both wizards and Muggles alike. It is unknown what effect a Dementor's Kiss will have on a person who has split his or her soul through use of a Horcrux. Barty Crouch Jr., who had been working in secret for Voldemort, was restrained at Hogwarts for a trial. His soul was sucked out by a Dementor accompanying Cornelius Fudge. Protection from Dementors :"A Patronus is a kind of positive force, and for the wizard who can conjure one, it works something like a shield, with the Dementor feeding on it, rather than him."'' : ::—Remus Lupin teaching Harry Potter the Patronus : There may be another way of repelling a Dementor besides the Patronus Charm, as Harry Potter disagreed with Professor Snape on the best method for confronting one when it was the subject of a report in Sixth Year. This implies that there are other methods, which seems further likely given that most Dark Wizards are apparently unable (or unwilling) to produce a Patronus Charm. The Dementors served the Ministry of Magic as the guards of Azkaban because it allowed them to feed on the emotions of the prisoners. However, by July 1996, most of the Dementors of Azkaban staged a mass revolt against their employers to join Lord Voldemort, who offered them more victims. This aided the 1996 and 1997 escapes of Death Eaters from Azkaban. By mid-1996, the Dementors who had joined Voldemort were multiplying, thus causing an "unseasonal" July mist. Cornelius Fudge also admitted they were factors in the British Prime Minister's recent decline in terms of public approval, as they were making people less happy in general. When Kingsley Shacklebolt became Minister for Magic following the end of the Second Wizarding War in 1998, Dementors were no longer used by the Ministry of Magic, presumably because they were deemed untrustworthy and inhumane.Appearances *